Arizona health premiums available on the federal health exchange are overall expected to be slightly higher in 2016.
Insurance experts say that’s due to the number of uninsured people getting insurance for the first time driving up costs due to their “pent-up demand” for care.
Also, expensive specialty drug usage and higher hospital charges due to industry mergers and acquisitions are raising costs.
Federal subsidies that help pay for the insurance can significantly drive down monthly premium costs — last year three-quarters of Arizonans who bought insurance on the federal exchange qualified for federal subsidies.
Plan premiums in Pima County, without federal subsidies, begin at about $112 per month for a 25-year-old nonsmoker who purchases the cheapest “catastrophic plan,” according to 2016 premium rates for individual HMO and PPO federally qualified health plans filed with the Arizona Department of Insurance.
Prices go up and vary depending on age, whether one is a smoker, and according to the metallic plan level — bronze, silver, gold or platinum, with platinum being the most comprehensive and expensive. Catastrophic plans offer the most minimal and cheapest level of coverage.
